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Hope Presents Awards to Faculty

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Hope College presented awards honoring teaching, service and scholarship to multiple
faculty members during the college's annual recognition luncheon on Monday, Jan. 9.

Hope College presented awards honoring teaching, service and scholarship to multiple
faculty members during the college's annual recognition luncheon on Monday, Jan. 9.

The "Janet L. Andersen Excellence in Teaching Awards" were presented to Dr. Steven
Hoogerwerf, associate professor of religion, and Dr. Kathy Winnett-Murray, professor
of biology. Previously known as the "Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching,"
the recognition has been renamed in memory of Dr. Janet Andersen, a professor of mathematics
at Hope who died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident on Thursday, Nov.
24.

The "Ruth and John Reed Faculty Achievement Awards" were presented to Linda Dykstra,
associate professor of music, and Dr. Margaret Kennedy-Dygas, professor of music and
chairperson of the department.

Named a "Towsley Research Scholar" was Dr. Isolde Anderson, assistant professor of
communication.

The "Provost's Award for Service to the Academic Program" was presented to Cheryl
Schairer, administrative assistant to the dean for the social sciences and director
of teacher certification.

The Provost's Awards for Excellence in Teaching, now called the Janet L. Andersen
Excellence in Teaching Awards, are presented to faculty members who have been teaching
at Hope for at least seven years. The award is given to professors who have demonstrated
recognizable excellence in specific activities or aspects of teaching.

Hoogerwerf has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1992. A specialist in Christian
ethics, he developed the Senior Seminar "What Really Matters" and among other courses
has also taught the Senior Seminars "Medicine and Morals," and "Vocation and Health
Care." He was a member of the Hope committee that drafted the successfully funded
grant proposal that led to the establishment of the college's CrossRoads Project for
the theological exploration of vocation during the 2003-04 school year. He regularly
accompanies Hope spring break mission trip groups as a support person.

Winnett-Murray has taught a variety of courses, including currently "Vertebrate Zoology,"
"Animal Behavior," "Populations in Changing Environments," "Comparative Anatomy" and
"Independent Zoology." She is a specialist in tropical ecology, and with her husband,
fellow Hope biologist Dr. K. Gregory Murray, involves students in research both on
campus and in Costa Rica. She currently directs the college's Hughes Science Education
Scholars Program, and co-led a local of edition of the National Science Foundation-funded
program "SYEFEST: Schoolyard Ecology for Elementary School Teachers." In 1998 she
was named the "Michigan College Science Teacher of the Year" by the Michigan Science
Teachers Association.

The Ruth and John Reed Faculty Achievement Awards recognize members of the Hope faculty
who are superior teachers and have also contributed significantly in some other area
of professional life. The award was established in memory of Dr. Ruth Yzenbaard Reed,
a 1965 Hope graduate who was associate dean of Macomb Community College. Reed died
in August of 1999 at age 55.

Dykstra and Kennedy-Dygas were honored jointly for their contributions to the voice
program at the college. Both joined the faculty in 1997, and have each created new
courses in voice at Hope and have together emphasized participation in the student
auditions of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Dykstra co-created the
Musical Theatre Workshop with John Tammi of the Hope theatre faculty, developing a
new emphasis in musical theatre, while Kennedy-Dygas has revitalized the Opera Workshop
program as part of the college's curriculum.

Dykstra is currently chair of the voice area at the college, a position she also held
in the fall of 2003. Her research focus is on vocology, an interdisciplinary combination
of voice teaching, voice therapy and voice science. Prior to coming to Hope she taught
private voice students as well as at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and
Loyola College. Her CD "Treasures: Little-Known Songs by Women Composers" was released
in 2002.

Kennedy-Dygas chaired the voice area prior to becoming chairperson of the department
of music in the fall. Prior to coming to Hope she taught at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln School of Music. She is the editor and chief author of "VoxBook," an online
interactive "textbook" that features not only information about composers and their
works but also printed musical scores and recordings of the songs themselves.

The Towsley Research Scholars Program is funded through an endowment made possible
through a grant from the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation of Midland. Through
the program, newer Hope faculty members receive support for a project for four years.
The foundation's awards to the college have also included grants for the construction
of the Van Wylen Library and the new science center, faculty development in the pre-medical
sciences and support for an endowed chair in communication.

Isolde Anderson has been a member of the Hope faculty since 2003, and previously taught
at Northwestern University while completing her doctorate in communication. She is
also an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church, and from 1981 through
2003 held pastorates in Maine, Illinois and Massachusetts. She will use the award
for a study of Internet community. She will focus on CaringBridge, a service that
provides personalized Web pages for individuals and families going through an adoption,
hospice care, birth, hospitalization or other type of care situation, and will examine
both why people choose to use the site and how they use it to construct an identity
and make sense of their experiences.

The Provost's Award for Service to the Academic Program is presented to individuals
who have provided special contributions to the academic program through student academic
support, general education, assessment work, implementation of programs that support/enhance
the curriculum, and any activity outside of formal teaching that contributes to the
overall excellence of the academic program.

Schairer joined the Hope staff in 1977. Through her work with the department of education,
she also serves as assistant to the director of student teaching. Among other responsibilities,
she secures field placements for the college's secondary-level student teachers, and
also works with current students and graduates in the teacher-certification process
with the Michigan Department of Education.